


Rolled Dice, Empty Gas

by TakingOverMidnight3482



Series: Fluff Month (April 2020) [24]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, Multi, Pre Trials of Apollo, Road Trips, fluff month, post HOO
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:29:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23823853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TakingOverMidnight3482/pseuds/TakingOverMidnight3482
Summary: "This is the first time I've ever done a spontaneous road trip, especially one that lasts this long, so I'm enjoying it. Are you?""I am," Annabeth said, easing into the turn lane as it approached. "Percy and I used to do this all the time before…you know, everything. We'd take long drives and just go until we couldn't anymore. Ended up in some pretty cool places. Of course, it was less organized than this, and I didn't drive back then, so it's a little different, but it's almost the same. I missed it."
Series: Fluff Month (April 2020) [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685734
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	Rolled Dice, Empty Gas

**Author's Note:**

> Day Twenty-Four: Rolled Dice, Empty Gas
> 
> Based on a Tumblr prompt. 
> 
> I've been listening to Phineas and Ferb and Big Time Rush....and writing Percy Jackson and PnF fanfiction...basically what I'm saying is that it's 2013 all over again and I'm not mad about it. Probably gonna go rebinge Phineas and Ferb here in the coming weeks, not gonna lie. 
> 
> Tomorrow's at the bottom! Hope everyone is staying well!

"First roll…five," Annabeth said, looking up from her die.

Percy marked it on the paper and then looked at Leo. "Next?"

"Two."

"Four," Jason piped up from where he was sitting on the floor. Percy scribbled the numbers down and then shifted his gaze to Frank, who was also holding a die.

"One."

"Two!" Hazel called from the kitchen.

Piper leaned out from the kitchen as well, holding up a die. "Also two!"

Percy cracked his neck and knuckles, picking up his own die. "All right. 44 more rolls, and we're good to go."

~~

"Intersection!" Leo yelled from the driver's seat. "Who has the quarter?"

There was fumbling in the backseat as everyone scrambled for the quarter they'd been using to pick directions. Annabeth, navigating in the front, snorted and held up the quarter for Leo to see. He grinned and tilted his head, eyeing the red light a couple cars ahead. She flipped it, catching it with ease and smacking it down onto the back of her hand. "Heads, we're going right," she declared, raising her voice so that the others would stop squabbling over the quarter in the back.

Leo flicked the turn signal on for the right lane and eased into it as the traffic started moving again, hanging a right at the intersection and looking into the rearview. "When's the next turn?" he asked.

Jason leaned over Percy, grabbing the dice sheet from his backpack and ignoring Percy's squawked protest. "Two miles."

"Hey wait!" Hazel shouted, bouncing over Frank's lap and pressing her hands to the window. "Can we go to McDonalds?"

"Oh, hell yeah," Percy whooped, leaning back for a high five from the girl. "Leo, hang an early left!"

Leo snorted and swung into the lot, pulling into a space and parking. "You guys are _so_ lucky that I drove this lap instead of Piper, or this would have turned into John Mulaney's "one black coffee" bit."

"I resent that."

"Am I wrong, Beauty Queen?" Leo asked with a cheeky grin, ducking out of range of Piper's fist.

"Absolutely not."

"Let's go, motherfuckers, this girl needs some nugs!" Percy yelled, already grabbing Hazel by the arm and dragging her, giggling, through the parking lot and into the restaurant.

~~

"What's the next number?" Annabeth asked, trying to keep her voice low.

Frank perused the list, scratching off the last turn point. Behind them, the others were fast asleep, Jason and Percy leaning against each other's sides, and Hazel spread out over Piper and Leo's laps. "Three miles."

It was late, nearing two am, and they had been driving for roughly seven hours. Of course, nearly half that time was spent on detours, and at least thirty minutes had been dedicated to outrunning a hydra that had caught onto their smells, but it was still shockingly late. They were somewhere in Maine.

"Quarter?"

Frank flipped it, catching it and turning it over to reveal an eagle. "Left."

"Thanks. Are you having fun?" she asked, tapping her fingers against the wheel. Adele was playing softly on the speakers.

Frank's smile was warm. "I am. This is the first time I've ever done a spontaneous road trip, especially one that lasts this long, so I'm enjoying it. Are you?"

"I am," Annabeth said, easing into the turn lane as it approached. "Percy and I used to do this all the time before…you know, everything. We'd take long drives and just go until we couldn't anymore. Ended up in some pretty cool places. Of course, it was less organized than this, and I didn't drive back then, so it's a little different, but it's almost the same. I missed it."

Frank reached out and squeezed her shoulder gently, giving her a tiny smile. "I'm glad you get to do this again. Sorry we're crashing the party."

Annabeth's laugh was muffled but bright. "Please, you guys make it way more fun. Percy has an affinity for playing meme-y songs, so I appreciate the shift in music."

"You said you _liked_ the Jonas Brothers," Percy mumbled from the backseat.

"I do," Annabeth chuckled, looking up to meet her sleepy boyfriend's eyes in the rearview. His hair was mussed up, and he'd drooled a little on Jason's shoulder. "But when that's all you play, and it's interspersed with Rick Astley, it gets old, babe."

She hung a left and pulled into traffic, looking sideways at Frank. Behind them, Percy had perked up a little and was looking out the windows into the dark. "What's the next?"

"That was the last turn," Frank informed her. "The next distance is two miles."

"Turn right," Percy breathed, leaning over the driver's seat and settling his shoulder on Annabeth's shoulder. "Trust me."

Annabeth looked at Frank, who shrugged. "Fine by me."

"What's right, Perce?"

He hummed, a soft smile sliding over his face. "The beach."

It was a clear, starry night, and in their particular location, not a lot of lights, so the stars were even bolder than usual, like Artemis was turning up the brightness on them. Annabeth took the next right she could find, following Percy's quiet, gut driven directions onto a gravel road that gently roused the rest of the group with grumbles and mutters.

The road stopped in a gravel lot, the beach spread out in front of them, and Annabeth's breath hitched.

Dating the son of Poseidon, she'd seen a lot of beaches. Hell, being a demigod, she'd seen a lot of beaches. But a completely empty beach, in the middle of the night, lit by dozens of stars and a half moon, was something she'd yet to experience. The water glimmered where it caressed the shore, like there were diamonds in the surf, and the surface was as smooth as glass.

"I'm not even surprised that Percy got us to a beach," Leo mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of one eye.

Annabeth cut the engine and slid out of the driver's seat, taking a moment to stretch. The rest of the group followed suit, Leo, Jason, and Piper disappearing around to the trunk of the van and Hazel and Frank going to scope out what looked like a picnic area. Percy was digging through the back of the van for, Annabeth assumed, swim clothing. They hadn't known where they'd end up, so the group had prepared for several outcomes.

She took the momentary solitude to just breathe in the salty sea air. It always made her feel at home, always calmed her down, not that she needed calming at the moment. After only a moment's thought, she leaned down and untied her sneakers, pulling them and her socks off and tossing them back into the van, relishing in the feeling of the cooling sand under her bare toes.

Jason appeared next to her a second later, pressing a thermos into her hands. It was piping hot, and she smiled as she took it. "Leo?" she guessed.

Jason was holding his own thermos, and he nodded. "Hot chocolate," he told her, taking a long drink of his own. "He's making some for everyone. Is it warm enough to swim?"

Percy hopped down next to them, holding out Jason's swim trunks and Annabeth's bag with her suit in it. "Probably not," he said, looking out to the surf. His eyes always seemed to brighten when he was close to the water. His hair drifted in the breeze, and Annabeth was reminded suddenly just how attractive her boyfriend was (not that she ever truly forgot, of course). "At least, not warm enough for the average person."

His smile was cheeky. He was holding a couple other bags in his hands, probably the other's clothes. "Warm enough for me, and with our human torch back there, we could probably make it warm enough for everyone else, if they wanted."

The actual temperature was somewhere in the high 70s, but the water would surely be colder. Annabeth took a drink of her hot chocolate and then set it on the roof of the van. "I'm gonna go change. Cold or not."

~~

It was cold. The water was _very_ cold, and Annabeth's teeth chattered as she waded in. Leo was already out up to his chest, and she had felt the warmth radiating off him as he splashed out, so she knew if she got out to him, the water would feel better. That was further supported by the fact that Jason, Piper, and Frank were already out with him, screwing around and trying to dunk the scrawny Latino.

Hazel had elected to remain on shore, playing music and lounging on a towel. Annabeth had offered to stay with her, feeling bad, but Hazel had smiled and shaken her head, curls bouncing.

"It's okay," she'd promised, cupping her hot chocolate. "I'm not a fan of swimming, especially after dark. I promise, Annabeth, I'd tell you if I wasn't okay with being alone."

She'd still felt bad, but Hazel had insisted, so now here Annabeth was, up to her hips in frigid water, contemplating turning back and joining the younger girl on the beach. Come to think of it, did Hazel even know how Spotify worked?

Before she could make the decision, warm arms encircled her waist. If she hadn't been missing Percy in the head count, she would have screamed and flipped him over her shoulder. As it was, she gasped.

His chest was warm against her back, his lips soft on her cheek. He was chuckling, the air dusting her skin, and he ran a hand up and down her arm. "Cold?"

The water shifted around her, moving just a little quicker, and it warmed up even as they stood there. She relaxed, shaking her head and snorting. "I always wondered how you tolerated cold water," she admitted.

Percy hummed. "Moving the water fast enough makes it warmer. Standing next to Leo is better, though."

Even as he said it, they watched Leo burst from the water and tackle Piper with a shriek. Annabeth stifled a giggle. "I think I'll stay here, thanks."

Percy kissed her temple. "Works for me."

"Not gonna go exploring?" Annabeth asked, twisting in his grip to rest her arms around his neck. His hands settled on her hips, a light touch that barely felt like it was there, and, without really discussing it, they both started swaying to the music Hazel was playing on shore, water lapping around their hips. "You love talking to the locals."

Percy wrinkled his nose, and, this close, Annabeth could see the sparkle in his eyes. "Nah. Think I'm gonna stay here. I like the company."

~~

"Hey so um…we're out of gas," Frank said, looking sideways at Jason, who was the only one awake aside from Piper.

"We're out of gas," Jason repeated in a deadpan. Piper, behind them and supporting Hazel's sleepy weight, clapped a hand to her mouth, presumably to keep from laughing.

Frank winced as he eased the van off the road. It was on the last legs of gas, and even as pushed down on the gas pedal, he could feel the van protesting and slowing. "Um. We didn't actually fill it after leaving Massachusetts."

Jason put his head in his hands and sighed, running a hand down his face. "All right. How far is the closest gas station?"

"Um. Maybe ten minute drive?"

Jason unbuckled his seatbelt, grabbed his wallet, and opened the door. "Stay here. I'm going to get gas."

"That's like an hour and a half walk!" Frank protested with a hiss.

Jason looked him dead in the eye, shut the car door, and took off into the sky, leaving Frank to stare, agape, and then splutter. "H-Hold on, wait, I-!"

He stumbled out of the car, morphed into a cheetah, and took off at a dead sprint in Jason's wake, leaving Piper to burst into cackles in the back seat, waking up Hazel with her laughter. "Where are Frank and Jason?" the girl muttered, squinting into the front seat.

Piper snickered, trying her best not to wake anyone else. "Racing."

"… _why_?"

Piper shook her head and climbed into the front seat, settling her hands on the wheel and wondering briefly if she could Charmspeak the car into running just a little longer. She didn't really want to put in the effort only to fail, though, so she just sank back in the seat, glancing at Hazel as she climbed up next to her. "They're morons, that's why."

"Fair enough."

**Author's Note:**

> Tomorrow's fic: Future, Phineas and Ferb


End file.
